CosBlog #71: Garnet By Geb Geb

Final Fantasy IX’s animated art direction and stylized characters make it tough for cosplayers to accurately tackle. What attracted me to Geb Geb’s phenomenal Garnet costume is not only the craftsmanship, but the fact that she embodies the character with an uncanny resemblance – a perfect fit if I’ve ever seen one.

Who: The CharacterThe character is Garnet til Alexandros XVII. She is the main female character from the game Final Fantasy IX and the princess of Alexandria.

Why: The DecisionFinal Fantasy IX has always been my favorite Final Fantasy game. Everything in the game reminds me of a beautiful fairytale, even the character designs. The reason why I choose Garnet is because there's never been a character in a video game that is so much like me, both in personality and appearance. Her change of personality through the game is the same change that happened to me in my life, so that makes Garnet really dear to me. Nobody can know how much I relate to this character! She's the reason why I started cosplaying as my first cosplay was her princess dress, but I needed to do her main outfit!

What: The ProcessI had the materials for that costume for a while; I just didn't have the courage to start the whole thing. A month before the convention I started making the gloves out of suede with my own pattern. I wanted them to be big! I also made the boots and after that I dropped the costume... and finished it only three days before the convention (not a good idea!). I drafted the bodysuit pattern myself because I didn't want it to have front and side seams. It's made of moleskin. I also made my own moleskin bias tape to put on the bodysuit. The blouse is separated pieces so that it won't show weird piece of fold fabric under the suit. Every piece is lined. I made the buckles out of craft foam as well as the pendant top, the crystal is a big round Swarovski. There's hand stitches on the boot cover and the white belt strap on the legs. I really tried my best to put details on that costume so that it looked exactly like the game. It's the most difficult costume I ever did! I'm so happy with the result :)

Where and When: The DebutI made this costume to go with my group (FullMetal_Sam as Steiner and Sakura_CC as Freya) for Otakuthon 2011. We won most accurate costumes in the master division which makes me really happy because I always wanted to do this group with them! The incredible Jack Liu did the photoshoot with me at this same convention located in Montreal.